Sightless
by MaximumRideff
Summary: When Max's mother dies, her father comes waltzing back in her life. With a family. Max is blind, and her father made her that way. He abandoned her and her family because he didn't want a blind person attached to his name. Max has always resented him, but she realizes that a lot more important things are about to happen.
1. Blinder than the Blind

Sightless:

Chapter One:

Blinder than the Blind

**Max's POV**

Do you know what sucks? Not being able to see. So, pretty much my whole life sucks. Hi. My name is Maximum Ari Martinez. I'm blind, and fatherless. Now I'm motherless too.

My mom died around two days ago. I haven't shed a tear. She wasn't ever really a mother. When I went blind because my father insisted on doing science experiments on me, he left. That drove my mother into a depression.

I can still remember my childhood years. I was always a happy, bubbly child, despite my unseeing eyes. When I was a child I didn't ever realize what I was missing when I couldn't see. Then, as my teen years went on, I realized what I was missing. That drove me into a depression.

My two siblings, James and Ella-Mae, tried everything to snap me out of it. Of course, nothing worked. Now, 18, attending my mother's funeral they said they forgave me. I think they did resent me just a little though. I often wish that I could have done something, but when I remember how much I felt back then, I decided it wasn't worth wallowing about the past.

I wish I could describe their looks to you, but I can't. My sister, Ella-Mae, is a very kind girl though. Her voice is sweet, like tinkling bells. She goes by Ella, she has always despised her name, much like me. That is one of the few things we have in common. You see, Ella is all about clothes and make up. If I could see, I probably would be like too. But, since I can't, those things have never really held my interest.

James, is funny. He has often been my only light when I am going through dark times. He knows how to lift my spirits in the craziest ways. That's one of the reasons I love him so much. James goes by Iggy, because he is such a pyromaniac. In other words, he loves to light things on fire and blow them up.

Ella and Iggy are some of the only things I do have now. Valencia may not have been a great mother after my father's disappearance but she was still there. She still went through the motions, even if there was no feeling behind them.

Sometimes, a lot lately, I'll think about all of things that I'll never be able to do. Like remember what the color light blue looks like with red. I can see it in my head, but having never actually seen some things together it's hard to visualize. I'll never know what I look like. What color my skin tone is. What my eyes look like when I'm angry.

I could always ask these things, but somehow it doesn't feel right. I want to know for myself. Is that really so much to ask?

Apparently it is because I still haven't got my number one wish yet. To see. That's all I've ever wanted. But I'll never get it.

I used to think those things a lot, I still do, though not quite as often. Then, I'll remember a corny joke Iggy made, or something pointless Ella rambled on about, and I'll smile.

Being blind certainly isn't a walk in the park, but it's not so bad sometimes. I get to bring my dog, Total, everywhere I want. And I get cool new Gucci sunglasses all the time.

I'm blinder than blind, but I don't mind.

Today I woke up to quite a nice surprise, NOT! Turns out my father, Jeb, came back. Even though I'm a legal adult and so is Iggy, Ella is only fifteen, which means she needs to have a legal guardian.

Jeb has it in his mind that I'm going to listen to him all the time and be perfect. But, newsflash!, he is the reason that I am sightless. I thought about spraying his eyes with some spray paint but I would need to see to get good enough aim.

Anyway, I'm sure you want to know how my amazing morning went, so here you go:

_I wake up, feeling fresh after the long shower I took last night. I don't think I've slept that well in months. I stretch my back out until it pops, and sigh at the feeling. I open my eyes, not that it makes much of a difference. Everything is still starch black. _

_I go over to my piano and feel around until I find my song book. It's like a regular notebook but the lines are raised up so I can tell where they are. I still remember how to write, and according to Ella I do it fairly well. I run my fingers over the raised letters, silently 'reading' my words. _

_I was feeling pretty low last night so I wrote a lot of angsty songs. That seems to be my specialty, angsty emotions. I can somewhat play the piano. It always takes me a few tries to get all of the notes right. Last night I was on a roll though and I wrote five songs. _

_I walk out of my bedroom door and keep my hand on the wall, trying to find my bathroom. Even after years of living in this house sightless I still had to do that. Walking without something terrified me to death. _

_I'm halfway there, I can tell by the fact that I just past the laundry room door, when I hear a voice behind me. _

_"Hello Maximum. Long time, no see."_

_Jeb. The fact that I still remember his voice almost drives me insane, but I manage to hang on to my last shred of sanity. I feel his gaze follow me as I slowly turn back around, not daring to let any emotion show on my face._

_"Why don't you listen for a few seconds? Then you can shower Maximum."_

_I nod meekly, not trusting my voice to stay strong. This is the man who abandoned me for his mistake. How dare he waltz back into my life like it was nothing! That asshole! _

_"I'm moving back in with you guys. Ella-Mae needs a legal guardian. You would be free to leave but you're blind so that would be a problem. James can't go with you either. My wife, Anne, and our three kids are moving in with us, I expect you to be courteous and welcome them into your home."_

_Right then I could've said a lot of mean things. I could've rambled on about how he didn't own me because he left, or that Mom is his wife, but what I said cut straight to his heart. I didn't even feel guilty after I said it. _

_"You are not my father. You do not own me. I will do what I please."_

So, that is how my morning went. I didn't shower until Ella made me. The way he talked made sick. And he still called us by our full names! That proves how much he knows about us.

So now I'm standing in the living room, listening to Jeb introduce Ella and Iggy to his three kids. Fang, a boy my age, Angel, an eight year old girl, and Gazzy, Angel's twin.

"This is my other son," all three of us growl at that word, "James, who goes by Iggy. He's eighteen, a month younger than Max. This is Ella-Mae, who goes by Ella, she's sixteen. And this is Miss Maximum Martinez, she's-"

"It's Ride."

"What?"

"My last name is Ride. Not Batchelder. Not Martinez. Ride. I got it legally changed."

"Well, anyway, this is Maximum Ride, she's eighteen and blind. You'll have to excuse her attitude, she's had a tough life."

"Yeah! Thanks to you!"

WIth that I ran out the house on to the side walk. I kept running, tripping over things every once in a while. Luckily I know this sidewalk pretty well. But when it ended I knew I was in some deep shit.


	2. Act Like a Lady!

Sightless

Chapter One:

Act Like a Lady!

Fang's POV

I stand in front of my mom. She's lecturing me about how I was rude to my step-father, Jeb. You see, Jeb thinks that he's my real father, but he's not. My real father died in 9-11. Jeb is trying to fill his shoes, but he's doing a pretty bad job at it.

My name is Fang. Yep, that's my real name. My mom used to be a crack addict, so, yeah. I don't mind my name that much. It fits with 'look.' I've got shaggy black hair that falls into my eyes, and olive-toned skin. I mostly wear black, but I'm not goth.

Today we're meeting with Jeb's old family. He has a girl and a guy my age and another girl two years younger than me. He hasn't really told us much about them and I know they don't know anything about us. Their mother just died, and I often wish that mine would. I take that thought back every time it pops into my head.

I'm 18, so really I could leave anytime I wanted. But sadly, I couldn't leave my younger siblings to live with this. They're both eight, and Jeb's bilogical children, but I love them anyway. I can tell that even they aren't fond of my parents. That's why I won't leave them.

But next September I'll have to, to go to college. College is something that I do plan on doing. I want to get a good education. I want to be a writer. You name it, I write it. Writing has been my escape since my father died. It died down a little but when my mom remarried I wrote more and more each day. I finally decided I could live without it and made it my career choice. Writing is something I enjoy more and more each day.

"FANG! GET YOUR SKINNY LITTLE ASS IN THE CAR!"

I flinch as my mother's voice pierces the air. Anne is a nice person. She just made a few wrong choices along the way. I try to love her, I really do, but I just can't. I don't ever feel the need to be around her, to talk to her, to cry on her shoulder. When I was little I would wish for a real mom. That earned me a few slaps.

I hop into Jeb's Corvet. Complete with leather seats and a wicked stereo system, I definintely wouldn't mind inheriting this later in life. Of course, I probably won't get it. I'll be gone soon, and I'm never looking back. At least, that's the goal.

Guess what bomb they dropped on me when we were in the car? We're moving in with these people! Can't they buy their own house? Jen is most certainly rich enough to afford it.

Turns out he has to be the legal guardian for the sixteen year old girl. Jeb is upstairs gathering everyone. I knew he had a life before us but it looks like these people got along fine with out him.

Once everyone is downstairs I get a good look at all of them while he introduces us.

There is a girl with beautiful, golden toned skin and blonde hair with some dark brown streaks that look really naturual. She's wearing a gray sweater dress with black leggings and a pair of gray, sparkly high heels. She has beautiful, dark, chocolate eys that are framed by nice, thick lashes. She doesn't focus on Jeb, but instead focuses near him, as if she's missing her target.

The other girl has pretty hispanic skin and dark hair that flows down her back. She focuses intentley on Jeb, trying to glare but failing. She's pretty too, but not nearly as pretty as the other girl.

The boy has strawberry hair and blue eyes. He growls at Jeb every once and a while. He glares to, although his doesn't fail, but it isn't that menacing.

"This is my other son, James who goes by Iggy." All three of them growl at the word son. Hold a grudge much? "He's eighteen, a month younger than Max. This is Ella-Mae, who goes by Ella. She's sixteen. And this is Miss Maximum Martinez. She's-"

I've got it pinned down now. Ella is the Hispanic. Iggy is the boy, and Maximum is the stunningly beautiful one.

"It's Ride." Max says, menacingly, as if she is barely holding on to her anger.

"What?" Jeb asks, stunned.

"My last name is Ride. Not Batchelder. Not Martinez. Ride. I got it legaly changed." She says, growling the word Batchelder.

"Well, this is Maximum Ride, she's eighteen and blind. You'll have to excuse her attitude, she's had a tough life."

"Yeah! Thanks to you!"

Max runs out of the house, a flurry of blonde hair and high heels. That's when I remember that she's blind. She won't be able to tell where she's going.

I turn to Iggy and Ella, expecting them to be sad and worried, but they're chatting happily with my parents. I shake my head in disgust. They should be ashamed of themselves. Max is blind!

I chase after her. She seems to know the sidewalk pretty well, but when she gets to the end she stops and holds out her hands, looking for something to guide her way.

"Max!"

She turns around, her face scared. I walk up to her slowly and loudly so she'll here my footsteps.

"Relax, it's only me. Fang. Come back."

She shakes her head and I wonder for a second is she speaks, but then she says something that surprises me.

"I'm leaving. I'm really sad that I never got a chance to get to know you and you're family. Have a nice life."

Something in the way she said 'leaving' makes me think that she isn't talking about this town. I think she wants to kill herself. I can't let that happen now can I? What kind of person would I be?

So I do the only thing I can think of. I pick her up, slinging her over my shoulder and start walking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
I grimace listening to the conversation that Max and her father are having.

"HOW DARE YOU EMBARRASSING ME LIKE THAT! ACT LIKE A LADY MAXIMUM! YOU ARE LEAVING THIS HOUSE RIGHT NOW!"

"What? Jeb? Please, no! I'll be good. I swear!"

_Smack._

"I paid for you to go to a boarding school for the blind. Pack. I want you out of this house in five minutes. No saying goodbye."

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**AN: Okay, lots of drama. Don't worry, the story will slow down pretty soon. **

**Link to Max's outfit on my profile!**


	3. Gone Without a Trace

Sightless

Chapter Three:

Gone Without a Trace

Max's POV

After Fang rudely picked me up and carried me all the way back to my house, my father was furious. As soon as Fang set me in the door he grabbed me by the elbow and led me up the stairs, into what I think was his office.

"HOW DARE YOU EMBARASS ME LIKE THAT! ACT LIKE A LADY MAXIMUM! YOU ARE LEAVING THIS HOUSE RIGHT NOW!"

Oh, no. Oh, no,no,no. I can't leave! My whole life is here! All of my friends! Where would I go? A blind girl can't live on the streets. I woudn't be able to get my bearings.

"What? Jeb? Please, no! I'll be good. I swear!"

Jeb wouldn't hear of it. He talked barely in a whisper, so no one but me would here it.

"You will be gone without a trace."

_Smack._

I didn't see it coming, of course not, so I couldn't defend myself. That was the first one of my parents ever hit me. Even when Jeb was here he never touched a hair on my head. That was the one thing I could always trust him never to do. And he did it.

"I paid for you to go to boarding school for the blind. Pack. I want you out of this house in five minutes. No saying goodbye."

I never expected my father to be right about anything, let alone something about me. But he was right. I was gone without a trace. Jeb led me through the backdoor, making sure that no one was around. I'm sure that Ella and Iggy don't mind. They haven't seemed to care about me as much as they used to.

I could lie and say I don't mind, but it stings. It stings a lot. I don't think that I'm all that sad about leaving them. Fresh starts are nice. But this is a boarding school for the _blind._

As much as I want to see, I know that it's impossible. Sometimes you have to accept things in life, like that you lost a swim meet. Or you made a wrong play in a volleyball game. Or that you can't see.

Acceptencce is something that is the first step to getting better. But I'm not a normal person, and I don't think I'll ever get better. I mean, what does a blind person relate to in life? Nothing.

I'm eighteen years old! I should be gearing up for college! But instead I'm going to a boarding school for the blind because I can't go to a normal college. I'll never be able to do anything in life, and that stings worse than a needle.

Even though Ella and Iggy hurt me more than anything, I still love them. No matter how much I try to hate them, I just can't! I'm going to miss them more than a child misses their blanket. They were safety to me, but now, they're only danger.

And Fang... Fang is okay. I don't know him well, but he seemed to hate Jeb just as much as I do, so that must count for something. I know he'll end up doing something great in his life. I can feel it. Let's just call it a hunch.

I also have a hunch that I'll always be sightless.

My life is hell.

Remember how I was supposed to be going to some fancy boarding school? Guess where the taxi took me? Not to my fancy boarding school.

Yep, apparently I gave him the wrong adress. I have a sneaky suspicion that I'm in the not-so-great part of town. So of course, I take out my fancy cell phone and dial the home number. I'm expecting for Jeb to answer, and I really wanted to yell at him.

A deep voice answers instead.

"Hello?"

"Fang?"

"Max?"

"Yeah. I need your help. I think I'm kinda lost."

"Kinda?"

"Yeah, Jeb gave the taxi guy a wrong adress, so now I'm in the bad part of town and judging by the thunder, it's going to rain."

"Shit. What's the adress Jeb gave the guy?"

I tell him the adress and he promises he'll be there in a minute. I have no idea how the hell he's gonna get here, but the thunder is getting louder and I'm pretty sure I just heard a gun shot.

Oh, joy.

Then in two seconds flat, it starts raining. And I don't mean a light drizzle. I mean a rain that pours down so hard it hurts the top of your head. If I wasn't blind, I probably wouldn't be able to see a foot in front of me.

But then again, if I could see I wouldn't be in this mess.

In less then a minute my clothes are soaked and I can tell it's going to be a long wait.

My life is worse than hell.

I sit down on the wet pavement and contemplate about what I should do now. I could always call homw again in case Fang isn't on his way yet. But I trust him. Besides. I needed some time to think.

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**AN: Sorry this chapter is so short. It's obviously more a filler chapter. I'm working on another story so the whole thing has been really hard to keep up with.**

**I need you guys to answer some questions.**

**1. Do you think the genres fit this story?**

**2. Later in the story, do you think I should fix Max's sight somehow?**

**Thanks for reading!**

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**Thanks,**

**MaximumRideff**

**maximumrideff **

**Email me if you have any questions or story requests! PM me first though!**


	4. Neither Did My Tears

**AN: Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait. There really is no excuse, but I had to study for some tests and my friend's boyfriend has been cheating on her so I had to help her out with that. **

**This is a short chapter! I'm sorry about that. I didn't spell check this so I'm sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

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Sightless

Chapter Four - Neither Did My Tears

Max's POV

Twenty minutes later I've decided that I don't need any more time to think and that it would be pretty awesome if Fang could get his ass over here so that I won't freeze to death. But luck just isn't on my side. I have been doing a lot of thinking though.

Like how much I miss my mother. Those last few months she wasn't the best. She was closed of and I didn't feel like I could tell her anything like I used to. My mom was an amazing person though, she kept going through the motions even though she was hurting so badly all the time. My mind flashes back to every time we had a fight. I would blam eher for everything- our lack of money, the hot water running out after 5 minutes, the fact that she forgot to buy pens. I was so horrible to her.

Oh God. I'm a really bad person, aren't I? All this time I've been wallowing in my own self pity without thinking how it affected others. Ella and Iggy would often find me bleeding and broken after another failed suicide attempt. No wonder they stopped caring. They tried to take care of me and I would push them out, then as soon as they stopped I would go crazy because I thought they didn't care.

Iggy used to always call me crazy, and I thought he was just kidding. But maybe he was right. I have to be crazy. No sane person would do the things I've done right? That has to be it.

Except I know that I'm not mentally crazy. After I went blind my mother repeatedly took me to doctor appointments to check that I was 'coping' well. I went every year and they never called me out on anything. So I must be fine, unless it just recently developed. I could be one of those people who goes crazy after having multiple traumatic accidents in their lives.

Trust me, I've had plenty of those. Jeb leaving, me going blind, Mom dying. And let's not forget about Ari. Ari was my much younger brother. He died in the same accident that I went blind in. He was sweet and I try to bury his memory. Nobody needs that kind of burden waying down on them.

A little while later Fang finally picks me up. I tensed up when I first heard the car but when Fang's voice rang out I wobbly stood up on my soaking wet heels and feel blindly around for the handle to the door.

I climb into the car onto what I think is leather seats. I can't be sure though. The heat is on high and I think the seat warmer is on too.

"Hi." My soft voice rings out in the car.

"Hey. Sorry it took so long."

"No problem."

After that short exchange we lapsed into a comfortable silence. I lean my head back against the seat and drift in and out of sleep. I'll only be at this boarding school for a few weeks. I'll be graduating soon since I'm already eighteen. There really was no point in sending me here. Jeb just wanted to get rid of me so he could have his 'picture perfect' family.

That was something he and my mom used to argue a lot about. The fact that I was blind. Jeb said that they should have just given me up. Taken me to an orphanage or just put me out on the streets. My mom refused though, she loved me. We used to be so close. I would cry on her lap every time they talked about it. As I got older the conversations didn't stop, and neither did my tears.

"Max?"

Fang's voice jolts me out of my thoughts and I nod, a signal for him to go on.

"How did you go blind?"

My breathe catches at his statement. I didn't expect that. I guess I could just tell him. But it wouldn't be right. He needs the full story. I haven't told anyone about it. Iggy and Ella only know part of it. Jeb, Mom, and I are the only ones who know. I guess I can manage to tell Fang. It won't be that bad.

So, with a shuddering breath, I begin.

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**AN: This story is moving really slowly, and I'm sorry about that. Next chapter is going to be extra long and there will be Fax. Also, Nudge should be coming up in the next chapter. I have to rewrite it so it'll be a while. Gazzy and Angel will be coming up soon too. We're also going to see some brotherly love between Fang and Angel! Iggy and Ella are going to be in the story soon, probably in a couple of chapters.**

**I haven't decided if I want to fix Max's sight yet. I probably will. Let me know what you think!**

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**Bye!**


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